I had a MK 1 come to me for a suspension swap from failed suspension units, and the process of swapping out was made so much easier as the lads that installed the failed units had rebuilt back up with copper slip which was acting as a lube and protection..

But on strip down I found a number of nuts and bolts not 100% tight, one of them being the upper front ball joint, so I said I would put together a quick guide on tightening them up after a suspension swap /ball joint dust boot swap or a wishbone swap...

First off once you have removed the split pin (MK1-2)(Mk2.5 as a snap clip) and cracked the castle nut and split it away from the upright...do not add any type of lube to the tapered shaft of the ball joint at this stage, it needs to stay dry..So we will fast forward to building back up, suspension swapped and in place, nuts holding the top mount to the inner wing, nut and bolt through the bottom bush of the damper, drop link in place and the shaft of the front upper ball joint through the upright with the castle nut turned on as much as you can before it starts to spin in the socket of the upright.All you need to do is get the handle of your breaker bar or a bar of some sort and at the top push it to the back and under the the sub frames tube where the top wishbone bolt goes through towards the front and push down which will put pressure on the wishbone and push the shaft of the ball joint in to the upright socket under pressure to be able to tighten it up with you ratchet spanner or ratchet and socket without it spinning, once nipped up you can remove the breaker bar/bar of choice and torque/tighten it up correct ready for the split pin to be inserted.

Now you can add the copper slip which will be pushed into the split pin holes stopping rust build up for next time around and on the thread and castle nut for the same reason...

Put all the nuts,bolts,drop links etc into place...

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Feed the bar towards the back over the wishbone toward the front of the Mazster to under the sub-frames tube for the wishbones holding nut and bolt....

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Before pressure....

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Pressure applied...

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Tighten the nut by hand as much as you can...

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Keeping it all under pressure get your ratchet spanner or ratchet and socket and tighten it up...

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Once tight you can remove the bar of choice....

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Now torque up /tighten so that the castle lines up with either of the holes that run through the upper ball joint shaft...

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Apply grease and push your split pin through bending one of the legs down and around...

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Last step is to make sure all the nuts and bolts are tightened up correct apply grease to the bolt heads,nuts and threads..

The Disclaimer:-This post is a natural product made from recycled electrons. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects, the articles/answers/comments are provided for information purposes and they are not intended to substitute informed professional advice, I or mazdamenders.net cannot personally be hold responsible for any damage occurred from following this procedure or any injuries from it. Proceed at your own risk.